Don't get a 768MB version, newer games are starting to need at least 1GB to run smoothly at 1920x1080+ resolutions. You also don't need a pre-overclocked version. The stock versions will easily surpass any stock overclock.

Though for that kind of money I'd get this GTX465 and unlock it to a GTX470.

Has custom cooling and stock OC, but i dont know how well it does against all the other custom cooled cards out there, cant seem to find direct comparison charts for the noise/tempatures.

Any suggestions appreciated

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Why would u want to take the 768mb version over the 1gb version? the 1gb version is faster, and has more memory.... Personally, i would recommend reference cooler unless he wants heat dumped inside hes case, otherwise he can go for a cooler design like that u just linked

Why would u want to take the 768mb version over the 1gb version? the 1gb version is faster, and has more memory.... Personally, i would recommend reference cooler unless he wants heat dumped inside hes case, otherwise he can go for a cooler design like that u just linked

If you want to stay on the gtx460, I'd say the Msi Cyclone 1gb version. Got mine yesterday, totally inaudible, very cool temperatures, a pretty large overclock margin (got my card from 725/1450/3600 to 875/1750/4000 with total ease, might overclock more) and power consumption which is indeed under the 470.

There's a good review on TPU about this msi card, here are some links:

I would always recommend Asus for their outstanding DirectCU cooling, I have it on my 5850 and I can overclock to 1000mhz with extra voltage and game the most demanding titles and my fan never goes above 55% (in audible) and keeps temps below 60C. I have owned Sapphire cards with the excellent VaporX cooling but they are not quite as affective IMO as the DirectCU, of course you also get Asus own Voltage tweak software.

If this friend wants some good 460's the two ones I would recomment are these two:

Perfect for overclocking seeing as how someone got the OC model (which would be this card's predecessor) of this card's core clock from 715MHz to 900MHz so with slight improvements you should be able to get a bit more out of it. This card has recently come out so the best should be expected.Gigabyte GeForce GTX 460 SUPER OC 1024MB GDDR5

From what the cards description they claim this card is equivalent to a 470 and what I noticed myself is the fact it is a Super-OC like the Gigabyte so this should be on the same level and the same should be achievable on this card too as with the Gigabyte card.MSI GeForce GTX 460 HAWK "Super-OC" 1024MB GDDR5

I would say these are the best ones out at the moment, especially the Gigabyte one as it is an improvement of a good predecessor card which would still be good now which is why I have two of them (the predecessors that is) in SLI. ^^

I would always recommend Asus for their outstanding DirectCU cooling, I have it on my 5850 and I can overclock to 1000mhz with extra voltage and game the most demanding titles and my fan never goes above 55% (in audible) and keeps temps below 60C. I have owned Sapphire cards with the excellent VaporX cooling but they are not quite as affective IMO as the DirectCU, of course you also get Asus own Voltage tweak software.

Im running Asus DirectCU 460s here and they are BRILLIANT. They can hit 940mhz on the core with some voltage increases and they run pretty cool and quiet. Actually at standard clocks they are near silent and they run very cool. Not so much when you go past 900odd mhz but to be fair, thats a huuuge overclock The only problem with them is if you intent to water cool your out of luck as they run a non standard pcb so finding a waterblock will be impossible. Not that they run warm enough to need water anyway

The EVGA reference design is your best option.Dont go for the EE version because they run louder and hotter.My Evga superclocked reference card is inaudible too.

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My EE versions don't run that hot, and they are silent when I use the default fan profile. I'd prefer them over the rest because the heatsink actually is built better. It has a mono-sink that cools the RAM, which most coolers don't have, and 3 Direct Touch heatpipes, it is a scaled down GTX470 heatsink.

there some version of GTX 460 from 768mb, 1 gig, reference board, custom cooling
if for general purpose maybe you could take 768mb version, gaming 1 gig up, i prefer take custom board coz they offer performance that slightly better than reference. i use digital alliance, msi is nice too and silent